1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to network software testing, and more particularly, to methods and systems for custom application development for remote applications having built in feedback ability in a distributed test framework.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the use of software in performing daily tasks is increasing rapidly, assessing software reliability through software testing has become an imperative stage in software development cycle. As is well known, software testing is used to find and eliminate defects (i.e., bugs) in software, which if undetected, can cause the software to operate improperly. In general, a stand-alone computer or a network of computer resources can perform software testing. When a stand-alone computer system is used to perform the software testing, the computer system is programmed to run a test selected by the software user. Comparatively, if a network of computer resources is used, the user is responsible for manually adding and deleting the computer resources to the network, programming the master computer system and the server, initiating the running of a user-selected test, and running the test on the group of dedicated computer systems coupled to the server.
In either scenario, a heavy user interface is required for initiating the software testing on the master computer, scheduling the running of the specific test on the system resources, adding and deleting of the system resources, keeping track of the system resources and their respective hardware and software configuration, and maintaining the system resources. Also, in either case, dedicated system resources perform the software testing. That is, the system resources are designed to solely be used for software testing.
Further, when operating a network of computer resources, some type of client control software generally is necessary to communicate test results back to the master computer system. Generally, the test creates a test results file during execution, which can be read by the client control software and provided to the master system after test execution. However, prior art client control software does not provide a mechanism to continue communication and management for tests initiated by the client control software. That is, once the client control software launches a test, the test executes without further communication with the client control software. Although some prior art systems allow client control software to “kill” a test job, no meaningful communication is provided that allows further management of an executing tests.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a flexible methodology and system capable of selecting and utilizing dynamic, cross-platform computer resources to process a computer software. Further, the system should be capable of allowing continued communication between client control software and launched applications.